Warm Air Rises

Use food coloring and different temperatures of water to demonstrate that warm air rises.
Difficulty / Time Commitment:
5 out of 10
Coolness Factor:
7 out of 10
Materials:

• food coloring, preferably red

• some device to boil water

• ice cold water • beaker

Instructions:

1. Boil water—no more than a few ounces are needed.

2. Meanwhile, put ice-cold water into a fairly large beaker.

3. Put red food coloring in the warm water for visualization purposes.

4. Very carefully and slowly pour the red, hot water down the side of the beaker. Do
not pour too much water into the beaker. Observe that the red, hot water settles on
top of the ice-cold water.

What Happened?
The hot water settled on top of the cold water because warm air (or water) is less dense
than cold air (or water). This concept can be seen in many real-life situations. For
example, the top floor of a house is nearly always warmer than the bottom floor of a
house. Less dense warm air settles on top of cold air when winds are light, as in inversion
episodes when cold air gets trapped in the valleys. But if warm air rises, then why is it
normally warmer at the earth’s surface than above the earth’s surface? The sun warms the
earth’s surface and the air around it much more than the sun warms free air, and with the
help of wind, this warm air rises but cools as the pressure and density of the air decrease
with height and the parcel expands.
Basic Concepts Learned:

• Warm air rises because it is less dense than cold air.

• Cold air sinks because it is denser than warm air.